'Saline's Christmas Parade' drops 'Holiday' from name following community opposition

Editor's Note: Comments from Saline Chamber of Commerce executive director Art Trapp have been added to this story.

The Saline Area Chamber of Commerce voted Jan. 14 to officially change the name of its annual winter parade back to “Saline’s Christmas Parade.”

The event, which began in 1975, had been known as “Saline’s Holiday Parade” for nearly 10 years. The chamber notified members of the name change in an email last week.

"We had a very spirited debate about it at our retreat, and there were a number of names suggested but none received enough votes to have a majority," chamber executive director Art Trapp said Wednesday morning. "In the end there was overwhelming approval for 'Saline’s Christmas Parade.' More than two-thirds of the 15 members of the board of directors voted for it."

Organizers attempted to straddle the fence for the event’s most recent iteration, changing the name to Saline’s Holiday/Christmas Parade in October. The theme for the 38th edition of the event held December 7, 2013 was “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

That concession was not enough for a number of Saline residents. A Bring Christmas Back to Saline Facebook page was established and a letter to the editor appeared in the Saline Reporter urging the chamber to change the name so as not to prohibit “the free exercise of a name that has both religious and secular meanings.”

Trapp said in the past two or three years he received at least 50 emails, numerous phone calls and was stopped on the street by passers-by urging him to put Christmas back into the parade's name.

The 2014 parade will be held Dec. 6 and the theme will be “Your favorite Christmas memories.”

Ben Freed is a general assignments reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Email him at benfreed@mlive.com and follow him on twitter at @BFreedinA2. He also answers the phone at 734-623-2528.